Biden Admin Climate Regulations Add $9,100 to Typical American Household Spending: Consumer Watchdog

Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm briefs reporters at the White House on May 11, 2021. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

A consumer watchdog has calculated that the Biden administration’s war on appliances such as gas stoves, in the name of climate change, would cost the average American household over $9,100.

In an infographic titled “Biden’s Dream Home,” the nonprofit Alliance for Consumers puts price tags on the Biden administration’s various proposals for new energy standards for all kinds of appliances found in homes, including air conditioners, washing machines, and gas stoves.

This year, the Department of Energy (DOE), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Department of Transportation (DOT) have announced a range of proposed rules that will make household appliances more expensive and, as some experts contend, are designed to force Americans to give up their current appliances.

For example, under the DOE’s proposed natural gas stove rule, an estimated 90 percent of gas stoves would have to be redesigned, with reduced performance and raise the upfront cost of stove products by around $32 million per year.

The list goes on, as enumerated in the DOE’s so-called Unified List of appliances targeted with new energy efficiency standards, with some in the “proposed rule stage” and others in the “final rule stage.”

While the list is long—including microwave ovens, ceiling fans, dehumidifiers, and pool pumps—the Alliance for Consumers has picked a selection of what seems to be common equipment found in the average American home, end estimated the cost of the regulatory burden the Biden administration has imposed or is looking to impose on them.

“Welcome to Biden’s Dream House, where the American dream just got significantly more expensive,” the group wrote in a post on X, along with an infographic that reveals some of the price tags.

Detailed Costs

Overall, the estimated cost of Biden administration policies on the typical U.S. family is estimated to be $9,166.

Gas furnace efficiency standards, which the DOE promises will “significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions” in the residential sector, are estimated to cost consumers an additional $494 on average, according to the consumer watchdog.

Dishwasher efficiency standards, which Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said “will reduce carbon pollution and combat the climate crisis” will lead to drainage problems and clogging, which the Alliance for Consumers estimates will cost between $50 and $400 to repair.

Proposed rules targeting air conditioning refrigerants would “dramatically” raise prices to refill air conditioning units, the watchdog says, estimating the cost to be roughly $1,100.

New energy standards for water heaters would force families to buy models that the Alliance for Consumers estimates are, on average, $2,800 more expensive.

Other costs include $25 for ceiling fans, $200 for washing machines, and $140 for light bulbs.

Some experts contend that, by prioritizing energy efficiency over other compelling factors—such as performance—the Biden administration is stifling free enterprise and hindering broder innovation. It’s also limiting consumer choice.

“It’s just spreading to more and more appliances. It seems that almost everything that plugs in or fires up around the house is either subject to a pending regulation or soon will be,” Ben Lieberman, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told Fox News.

“Consumers aren’t going to like any of it. These rules are almost always bad for consumers for the simple reason that they restrict consumer choice,” he added.

Sears Kenmore washing machines are shown for sale inside a Sears department store in La Jolla, Calif., on March 22, 2017. Mike Blake/Reuters

‘Everything But The Kitchen Sink’

While the watchdog focused its estimates on households, the Biden administration’s rules would also impact businesses.

The DOE’s proposal to make ceiling fans more restrictive was met with a sharply critical reaction by some lawmakers.

“Ceiling fans are the latest target for the Biden Administration’s seemingly endless war on appliances,” Rep. Bryan Mast (R-Fla.) said in a statement. “This Administration seems bound and determined to literally regulate everything but the kitchen sink.”

“Ignoring the blatant government overreach at play here, this newest regulation could force small businesses to shutter,” he continued. “It’s estimated that complying with the DOE’s rule would cost the industry $86.6 million per year—that’s a cost many small manufacturers can’t absorb.”

Industry groups have pushed back as well.

In response to the DOE’s call for public comment on its dishwasher energy efficiency proposal, a coalition of 19 industry and consumer groups led by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) submitted a detailed criticism.

Existing dishwasher standards are already causing “serious problems” for consumers and tightening them further would worsen the problems and undercut consumer protections, they wrote.

“While each of the Biden administration’s recently-proposed appliance measures raises a unique set of risks for consumers, the proposed dishwasher rule at issue here is particularly harmful,” the groups wrote in the submission.

Signatories of the submission to DOE include The Heritage Foundation, Institute for Energy Research, Heartland Institute, American Consumer Institute, Americans for Prosperity, and American First Policy Institute.